September 28, 2011

Sep 28, 2011 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • The Japanese panel investigating the causes(s) of the Fukushima accident held it’s third meeting yesterday (Sept. 27). Because it seems people being interviewed are intimidated by the news media, the Tuesday meeting was the first one held behind closed doors. However, the panel did make a summary statement following the meeting. At this point, it appears the Fukushima Nuclear Power Station was unprepared for the tsunami that initiated the accident, which should come as no surprise to anyone. The panel also said it now seems that TEPCO did not take some actions which might have minimized damage to the fuel cells, containments, and surrounding buildings. (We have suggested this for more than 2 months) Panel leader Yotaro Hatamura told reporters TEPCO “could have taken more effective steps after the March 11th tsunami.” Hatamura added the panel will issue its preliminary findings by the end of the year. (NHK World)
  • TEPCO’s latest posting of radiological conditions in and around Fukushima Daiichi continues to show decreases in Cesium in all cases. They currently run seawater analyses at 28 locations out to 30 kilometers from their “shallow draft quay” (barricaded docking area). All continue to show no detectable Cesium 134 or 137. Inside the quay breakwalls, cesium levels continue to drop, with all but one location showing concentrations which are detectable, but below national standards. The other location shows a concentration less than twice the standard. Airborne monitors at the property boundary continue to show no detectable Cesium in the air leaving the site. Waste water levels of Cesium in most of the turbine basement sub-drains are now down to 2-3 times national standards, with four locations showing below-standard readings. Please keep in mind…detectable doesn’t mean dangerous.
  • As of this morning, the bottom head temperatures of units 1, 2 & 3 RPVs are below 100 oC. If all three stay at or below this temperature, the first criteria for the desired cold shutdown condition will have been met. (NHK World)
  • TEPCO will be seeking a 15% increase in customer electric rates to pay for the added costs of fuels for the thermal (fossil-fueled) power plants being used to replace idled nuclear capacity. TEPCO points out this is not Fukushima Daiichi-related, but rather the undamaged power stations idled by former P.M. Kan’s de-facto moratorium. (Asahi Shimbun)
  • Tokyo’s evacuation advisories for the five municipalities outside the mandatory northwest evacuation corridor, between 20 and 30km from Fukushima, are scheduled to be lifted on Friday, September 30. Senior Vice Minister of Economy Trade and Industry, Tadahiro Matsushita, met with Mayor Yuko Endo of Kawauchi Village on Monday and assured the Mayor the government will not abandon them. (NHK World)
  • Many Japanese news sources report Fukushima City has announced a two year plan to decontaminate all buildings, private residences, streets and sidewalks….whether they need decontamination or not. It seems a vocal minority of residents believe any detectable level of Cesium is life-threatening, so the City has decided to decontaminate everything that has detectable Cesium. Since most buildings and residences have detectable Cesium on them, the cost of cleaning all structures would be no more than cleaning just those with Cesium. Professional cleaners hired by the city will scrub radioactive substances from roofs, walls and ditches of houses, plus remove concrete which tends to retain radioactive material in its microscopic imperfections. They will give “extra-thorough cleaning” to schools, as well as homes with children. In total, more than 110,000 structures will be cleansed. The City feels this should quell on-going fears.The city fails to realize people with a phobic fear of radiation cannot be satisfied. The number and frequency of complaints might diminish, but articles about radiation fears will continue through the Press none-the-less.
  • Yuichi Moriguchi, a professor of environmental systems engineering at the University of Tokyo, says the volumes of Cesium-laced materials which might be generated by decontaminations in Fukushima Prefecture might be less than currently estimated. Much of the 2,500 square kilometer region facing debris collection and soil-stripping is mountainous, which my not actually need to be cleaned up. “I don’t think that the whole (2,500-square-kilometer) area will have to be decontaminated,” Moriguchi said. He estimates this could reduce the total estimates by more than 10 million cubic feet. (Japan Today)
  • Radiation-in-food fears have reached the Japanese fish market. Waters off Fukushima Prefecture are not being fished due to a government ban. Regardless, fish sales across the country are dropping because of radiation fears. Fear of fresh fish having Cesium, whether its is detectable or not, have driven prices at the dock down by more than two-thirds. Boats that fish the waters as far as 300km away from Fukushima cannot off-load their catch in any Fukushima or Miyagi ports because they run the risk of their stock not being sold in Tokyo markets. An owner of a commercial fishing boat said, “I fully realized that fish won’t sell in Tokyo (at appropriate prices) if they were landed (on ports) in Fukushima Prefecture. People’s anxieties over products (from Fukushima) is strong.” (Asahi Shimbun)
  • Today, Mainichi Shimbun posts a reports yet another possible nuclear scandal in the government…or is it? The headline reads “Industry ministry under-reported opponents to reactivation of nuclear plant in Kyushu”, but the body of the article shows the headline to be questionable and possible misleading. During an internet broadcast on June 26, viewers were asked to Email their opinions on restarting the Genkai nuke plant during the show. 586 Emails were received during the show, with 286 in favor, 163 against, and the rest undecided. The polled results were restricted to only those received during the show. Emails coming in before and/or after the broadcast would not be included in the poll. The Mainichi says more than 100 Emails were received after the broadcast and not included in the poll results, therefore the Kyushu Electric Company intentionally “under-reported”. The paper says if messages sent to the broadcaster after the deadline were included, the ratio of those opposed to reactivation becomes larger.Mathematically, a reduction in ratio would result even if the number of uncounted favorable Emails were greater than the unfavorable. Let’s speculate that 51 were pro and 49 were anti. This makes the new numbers 337 in favor and 212 against. The original ratio is 1.75 favorable. The speculated ratio would be 1.59 favorable. Or in converse, the original poll has a ratio of 0.57 against, and the speculated ratio would be 0.63 against. Further number-play shows the uncounted E-mails could have been as high 60 in favor and 40 against, and still reduce the original ratio down to 1.71 favorable and raise the unfavorable ratio to 0.58. Mathematical manipulations are not uncommon with respect to nuclear issues, especially when a news media outlet is having a “slow news day”.